Our other tame racing driver(he's a solicitor) told him about a car one of his posher clients was selling and thought he might be interested in it.
He took him around to the owner's house and after being buzzed in through the gates drove up the drive to a long open fronted car port with about six cars lined up side by side. It was something like Ferrari, Bentley, Jag, Mercedes, Mercedes and at the end... Volvo.
My cousin said he wasn't interested an an old Volvo and couldn't afford any of the others so why were they here?
When they met the owner who then walked out to the cars and started it, my cousing got a semi!!!
He then noticed a Don Garlits badge on the grill and asked the owner if it was genuine?
He was told it was and he had the paperwork to prove that the engine was built by Don Garlits. He also had all the paperwork to show what other modifications had been made to the car. A short test drive later around the country lanes near Stratford-On-Avon it was sold.
In the 18 months or so that my cousin owned it, he got through three gearboxes. It was using a touring car racing baox(if memory serves) when he bought it. That went bang...
He then sourced a genuine works TR8 rally car gearbox. That also went bang. I think that was the one that killed itself while gently driving of his garage forecourt on the way home one night.
The box he ended up with, which his mate GUARANTEED for the life of the car, was a four speed NASCAR box. He was right. It took any and all abuse he gave it but the gear stick came out of the left hand side of the box as it was designed for NASCARs and with it being in a right hand drive car was not the easiest stick to use.
I remember walking towards it on the ramp at his garage one evening and you could feel the exhaust pulses from the back from about fifteen feet away. The car looked bog standard apart from being lowered about an inch with black tinted windows. Ordinary looking alloy wheels, powder coated black and a single exhaust out back of modest diameter. Not like the dustbins that some Imprezzas carry. Of course it only seemed normal until he turned the key
We drove up to Rockingham one weekend. We were both Rockingham Supporters Club members. It had been open over a year and neither of us had been to a meeting because every time they had one we were envolved with two guysin K-Sports but this weekend they were supposed to be racing in France and for whatever reason it was cancelled. I had free tickets for this Rockingham event and as we were free we deiced to go.
When we got there we telephoned a mate who we knew was racing and he came out with a vehicle pass for us to drive into the paddock. We drove through the two marshal check points and were in the far end of the paddock looking for our mate. We were only driving at walking pace but IT was announcing itself as usual. We noticed mechanics and pit crews and other people looking at us and then around for the source of the V8 rumble. Then seeing no other car back at us, then around again for the source of the noise! Now the car wasn't stupidly lous but it had that distinct American off beat rumble. As we drove past people they started to follow. When we pulled up there must have been about a dowen people looking at the car and as we got out questions like "open the hood!" "What's under the bonnet?" "Was that you rumbling?" Then "Where'd ya nick the badge from?" and "How much for tha badge mate?" Then when he opened the bonnet "Why have you got a Garlits badge when it ain't one of his engines?" to which he was told to F*CK OFF BEFORE I T*AT YOU!"
I'd never heard of Garlits but apparently he was one of THE dragster engine buiders. Cliff Richard had two cars that he loved. A Corvette and a Volvo. He loved the comfort of the Volvo and the performance and the noise of the Corvette so he took both cars to America and got the V8 put into the Volvo and then told the guy to 'make it fast'.
It was very good in a straight line but butt clenching around corners!
He took it(cousin not Cliff) to Birmingham Wheels one evening where people race between two roundabouts on a short dual carriageway, i've never been.
He went against a tuned Skyline. Skyline got him off the line, and was then overtaken. Skyline then repassed under braking because it had modified Skyline brakes and the Volvo had Volvo brakes, but then the Volvo retook the Skyline to the finish.
The Volvo is now no more having rusted to bits and was then stripped for parts. Namely one engine and gearbox.
